Board game and playing pieces affording limited initial moves of playing pieces



July 30, 1958 w, F|5HER 3,394,936

BOARD GAME AND PLAYING PIECES AFFORDING LIMITED INITIAL MOVES OF PLAYINGPIECES Filed April 12, 1965 Yxxxx x1001 V Q %HER LaN United StatesPatent 3,394,936 BOARD GAME AND PLAYING PIECES AFFORD- ING LIMITEDINITIAL MOVES OF PLAYING PIECES Howard W. Fisher, 11760 S. Wallace,Chicago, 111. 60628 Filed Apr. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 447,145 4 Claims. (Cl.273131) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A board game apparatus having a boarddivided into generally trapezoidal sections or playing areas each ofdifferent color and each subdivided into playing spaces identified byrailroad designating indicia on which are placed playing piecesidentified by matching indicia. At the outset only four central vacantspaces are provided so as to limit the initial moves of playing pieces.The object is to jump playing pieces of opponent so as to remove themfrom the game, thus furnishing more and more vacant spaces facilitatingmoves. A single play consists of moves which may be made horizontally,or vertically, or diagonally, or a combination of any two or more ofsuch moves may be made simultaneously if vacant spaces permit. When aplaying piece reaches its corresponding space, it is removed from theboard and replaced by a station marker.

My invention relates to board game apparatus and is intended to providea stimulant tocalculate advance planning and thinking, or in other wordsmental gymnastics and exercises.

An important object of my invention is to provide a game for a group ofplayers for purposes of amusement or pastime, as well as for developingmethods and strategy to be employed in playing said game.

Another object of my invention is to provide a game of theaforementioned character employing a board having a playing fieldsubdivided into a number of playing sections or areas, each of saidplaying sections or areas being further subdivided into a number ofplaying spaces.

Another object of my invention is to provide in a board apparatus alimited number of vacant spaces at its geometric center so that at theoutset the playing of the game is greatly restricted but other and moredistant moves of playing pieces become available as the game progresses.

, A further object of my invention is to provide in a board apparatus anumber of rectangular playing areas which permit the movement of playingpieces horizonally, vertically, or diagonally or a combination of anytwo or all three directions, continually dependent upon the vacanciescreated upon said board, thus opening paths of travel.

It is a further object of my invention to provide game apparatus whichcan be manufactured economically in quantity production.

Other and ancillary objects of my invention may be had by reference tothe following description read in the light of the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one of the playing pieces employed in playingthe game;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another of the playing pieces used in the game;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a move after roads have been cleared; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the board membercomprising my invention.

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Referring to the various views, my invention consists of a board member(FIG. 1) designated 6, the playing sections or areas as shown at 7, 8, 9and 10 indicating respectively the colors of the playing pieces 21 and25 to be employed, i.e., red, orange, green and yellow. The playerelecting to play with the red playing pieces wil move toward and findhis objective in the red area, whereas the player selecting the orangeplaying pieces will move toward the orange area.

The red area and the other colored component areas are substantially ofgeometric configuration known as trapezoidal shape, the red area beingconfined between divisional lines 13 and 14, the orange area beingencompassed by division lines 13 and 16, the green area being isolatedby lines 16 and 15, and the yellow area being confined by lines 15 and14.

It should be noted that I have designated the playing rectangles in eachplaying area as follows: A designates all playing rectangles in thegreen area, B designates the playing rectangles or spaces in the redarea, C designates the playing spaces in the orange area, and Drepresents all playing spaces in the yellow area.

Each playing area has fifteen playing spaces, and each playing space ismarked as shown in FIGURE 7 with indicia representing the name of arailroad; for eX- ample, the red playing area confined between 13 and 14has markings designating the following railroads: Frisco, Santa Fe,Union Pacific, Burlington, Great Northern, Milwaukee Road, NorthernPacific, Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, Great Western, Rio Grande,Missabe, Kansas City Southern, Sooner and Iury; the playing pieces 21colored red have markings identical with the above and are placed on thegreen playing section confined between lines 15 and 16. B on the drawingrepresents all the foregoing railroads.

The green playing area confined between lines 15 and 16 has each of itsplaying spaces marked with the insignia of a railroad, as for exampleMonon, L & N, Eric, M & N, Rutland, Akron Canton Youngstown, LehighValley R.R., Nickel Plate Road, Main Central, Lehigh New England, N. Y.Central, Long Island R.R., Pennsylvania R.R., B. & O, and Atlantic CoastLin; the playing pieces 21 colored green are marked identically with theforegoing insignia and are placed on the red playing area confinedbetween lines 13 and 14. A on the drawing represents all the foregoingrailroads.

Consequently it can be seen that each player is provided with playingpieces which should be directed to travel toward a station ordestination on the opposite side of the board.

The player who selected the orange sector lying between lines 16 and 13plays toward that sector. The orange playing area has markingsdesignating the following railroads: Peoria Gateway, C & E I,Minneapolis & St. Louis, C and O, Wabash, S00 Line, Rock Island, DuluthSouth Shore, Spokane Portland & Seattle, Canadian Pacific, NorthWestern, L, S. & 1., Canadian National Railways, Lackawanna Railroad,The D & H; the playing pieces 21 colored orange have markings identicalwith the foregoing and are placed on the yellow playing area. C on thedrawing represents all of the aforementioned railroads.

The player selecting the yell-ow sector or area plays toward the yellowsection defined by lines 14 and 15; said yellow area is provided withmarkings designating the following railroads: Florida East CoastRailway, Seaboard Railroad, Georgia Railroad, Georgia Central, CottonBelt Route, THB Ry. 00., Texas Mexican Ry., Texas and Pacific, Savannah& Atlanta, K I T, The Southern, The Katy R.R., Missouri Pacific Lines,Illinois Central, Alton & Southern; the playing pieces 21 colored yellowpossess identical markings as hereinbefore enumerated and are placed onthe orange playing area confined by lines 13 and 16. D on the drawingrepresents the names of all the aforementioned railroads.

Each player selects his fifteen playing pieces 21 and places them inspaces 12 in the sector opposite that representing the color chosen byor assigned to him.

At the center of the board member 6 are vacant areas 17, 18, 19 and 20.The board member 6 encompases sixtyfour playing spaces 12. Sixty ofthese playing spaces 12 are occupied by playing pieces 21 of theplayers, namely, fifteen playing pieces 21 for each player. The playersthen determine the rotation of play, each player making a single move.

Playing pieces 21 at the outset can move only into central spaces 17,18, 19 or 20, one space at a time. Thus it can be seen that initiallythe game is highly restrictive and very slow progress can be made. Theplaying pieces may jump those of an opposing player by moving eitherhorizontally, vertically or diagonally. The board provides, therefore,horizontal railroads, vertical railroads and diagonal railroads.

As the game progresses, and jumps are resorted to by the players, theplaying pieces that have been jumped over are removed, thus weakeningopponents chances of winning. Hence it becomes apparent that more andmore of the board makes available playing spaces 12 and opens uphorizontal, vertical and diagonal railroads. When this occurs a playermust study the field, for if he can jump one of his opponents, he maycontinue to travel on open roads through devious horizontal, vertical ordiagonal roads, as will be hereinafter elucidated with reference to FIG.6. When a player, subsequent to one or more plays, moves a marker 21, toits destination, he removes the marker 21 and replaces it with a stationmarker 25, which creates a block since it may not be jumped. When playreaches a stalmate or impasee, and no further moves can be made, thewinner is then determined by the number of station markers he has on theboard. The station markers 25 are colored red, green, yellow and orangeand are available to each player as needed.

The playing pieces generally designated 21 comprise configuratively theforward appearance of a locomotive, being made of wood or plastic bymolding or jig sawing a smoke stack portion 23, a ootler or steamgenerator portion 22, and a cow catcher portion 24, the piece beingidentified by indicia representing a railroad.

The station markers 25 are made of wood or plastic and are substantiallyquadrilateral as shown at 26 and have the design 27 imprinted thereuponand identifying a railroad station.

It can readily be seen that a board member with the names of the variousrailroads and playing pieces 21. of varied colors identified withsimilar indicia, as well as the colored station markers, present anattractive as well as an interesting appearance.

The board member 6 may be bisected at 11 so that it may be folded, thusoccupying less space in transit or shipment.

The game has been described as it would be played by four players;however, two players may also play the game in which event each playeruses one half of the board divided at the fold line 11 and one selectsplaying pieces 21 to place on the area constituted by the bottom half ofFIG. 1 on the drawing, namely, below fold line 11, said playing pieces21 being positioned on lower section D, section A and lower section Cand having corresponding destination points or stations marked on theupper section above fold line 11, i.e., upper section D, section B andupper section C. The player using the other playing pieces 21 positionsthem also on his section without precalculation and without reference tothe destination points on the opposite side. It is this one feature ofthe game which compels each game to be played differently. This game,unlike chess or checkers, can not be completed in any predeterminedmanner. If two players engage in the playing of the game, each playerhas 30 playing pieces 21, allowing the spaces 17, 18, 19 and 20 toremain vacant to permit initial moves. Sector lines 13, 14, 15 and 16are ignored.

After many moves have been made and the board 6, see FIG. 6, has four ofopponents playing pieces 21 in the spaces indicated at 29, 30, 31 and32, if it is a players turn to play the piece indicated at 33 he mayfollow the path of solid line arrows 35 and in one move reach hisdestination at space 28 and place station marker 25 thereon; in makingthe move he follows path 35 and successively jumps as well as eliminatesplaying pieces 30, 29, 31 and 32, thus reaching his destination at 28.This merely illustrates how many turns and jumps may be made in one moveover the roads horizontally, vertically and diagonally. It should benoted, for example, that if station marker 25 were not in place on theboard, the path followed by said player could have taken the directionof dotted line arrows 34.

The railroad names mentioned are merely exemplary any any other railroaddesignations may be substituted therefor.

Although I have herein described the structure and rules preferably tobe employed in playing the game, the rules may be modified to make thegame more difficult or to make it simpler.

It should be noted that when the game is started, each player hasavailable only five moves to the central vacant areas, namely, twostraight line moves and three diagonal moves. This permits other movesto be made into the areas or spaces 12 vacated by the initial moves.Then after some jumps are made and playing pieces are removed greaterfreedom for making moves is made available to either or both players. Asdestinations are reached by either or both of the players and stationmarkers are placed on the board, which occupy spaces 12 until the gameis completed, said station markers limit the moves of players andrequire calculation of devious paths to be followed to reach aparticular destination. The foregoing features lend interest to the gamesince a player may utilize defensive play strategy in blocking pathsfreed through play and preventing his adversary from playing offensivelyin trying to reach particular destinations.

Even though the invention has been described in its preferred form witha certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure has been made only by way of example and that changes,modifications and alterations could be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention defined in the subjoinedclaims.

Having thus described and revealed my invention, what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A board game apparatus of the character described comprising a boardmember subdivied into a plurality of playing areas each identified by adifferent color, each of said playing areas being subdivided into a likenumber of playing spaces, said board having only four unmarked spaces atthe geometric center thereof to limit initial moves of playing pieces onsaid board member, and a number of playing pieces for placement on saidplaying spaces, each marked space bearing a different indicium and eachplaying piece bearing a different indicium matching one of those appliedto said playing spaces, and a number of distinguishable groups ofmarkers of different formation than said playing pieces whereby aplaying piece may be replaced by a marker.

2. A board game apparatus of the character described comprising a boardmember subdivided into a plurality of playing areas each identified by adifferent color, each of said playing areas being of substantiallytrapezoidal configuration and being subdivided into a like number ofplaying spaces, said board having only four unmarked spaces at thegeometric center thereof to limit initial moves of playing pieces onsaid board member, and a number of playing pieces for placement on saidplaying spaces, each marked space bearing a difierent indicium and eachplaying piece bearing a different indicium matching one of those appliedto said playing spaces, and a number of distinguishable groups ofmarkers of difierent formation than said playing pieces whereby aplaying piece may be replaced by a marker.

3. A board game apparatus of the character described comprising a boardmember subdivided into a plurality of playing areas, each identified bya different color, said playing areas being of generally trapezoidalconfiguration positioned contiguously and being subdivided into a likenumber of playing spaces, leaving only four unmarked spaces at thegeometric center of the board to limit initial moves of playing pieceson said board member, and a number of playing pieces for placement onsaid playing spaces, each marked space bearing a different indicium andeach playing piece bearing a different indicium matching one of thoseapplied to said playing spaces, and a number of distinguishable groupsof markers of difi'erent formation than said playing pieces whereby aplaying piece may be replaced by a marker.

4. A board game apparatus of the character described, comprising a boardmember subdivided into a number of playing areas, each of said playingareas being subdivided into -a like number of playing spaces, eachidentified by diflerent railroad indicia, said board having onlyunmarked spaces to limit initial moves of playing pieces on said boardmember, a number of playing pieces equal to 6 the number of playingspaces and each identified by different railroad indicia each matchingone of the indicia on said playing spaces, and a number ofdistinguishable groups of station markers of different formation thansaid playing pieces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 85,328 10/1931 Ducey.

165,410 7/1875 Edwards 273131 191,169 5/1877 Nutting 273131 1,102,5947/1914 Kiefer 273131 1,211,748 1/1917 OConnor 273-13l 3,130,972 4/ 1964Schwarzlander 273-131 1,265,085 5/1918 Ishida 27313 1,539,426 5/ 1925Rammelmeyer 273131 2,045,339 6/1936 Boland 273-131 2,133,515 10/1938Horton 273131 3,030,112 4/1962 Scharp 274-134 FOREIGN PATENTS 450,231 1/1913 France.

17,506 1892 Great Britain. 7,593 1902 Great Britain. 495,994 11/ 1938Great Britain. 278,976 2/ 1952 Switzerland.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

